In the 1980s, NBC’s peacock rose like a phoenix after startling programming disasters, including Pink Lady and Jeff, Supertrain, and the departure of the original Not Ready for Prime Time cast of Saturday Night Live. Under programming guru Brandon Tartikoff and his lieutenants, Warren Littlefield and Jeff Sagansky, NBC achieved prominence, success, and distinction.

Media historians will likely document the 1980s as the Decade of the Peacock. As television approached its 40th anniversary since Milton Berle launched the medium into mass status in 1948 with Texaco Star Theatre, NBC’s avian emblem emerged like a phoenix, symbolizing pride throughout the environs of network headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan, 3000 West Alameda Avenue in beautiful, downtown Burbank, and approximately 200 NBC stations.